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The Sense of Sight

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 542

The mirror projecting a woman’s face toward us has been included in order to create an allegory of sight, probably based on prototypes by Jusepe de Ribera, a Spanish painter active in Naples from 1616 until his death in 1652. The present painter’s name remains unknown, though similar handling and palette are found in a small group of works executed in Naples between around 1620 and 1640. The conceit of the mirror offering two views and evoking sight and self-knowledge are found to similar effect in Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun’s Julie Le Brun, Looking in a Mirror (1787), also part of The Met’s collection.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Sense of Sight
  • Artist: Master of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (Italian, active Naples, ca. 1620–40)
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: Overall, with added strips, 29 7/8 x 24 7/8 in. (75.9 x 63.2 cm); without additions 27 3/4 x 21 3/4 in. (70.5 x 55.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982
  • Object Number: 1982.60.12
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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